ilk

When you encounter a very rude person and you say "I can't stand people like him," this is an example of a situation where you could say that you cannot stand people of his ilk.

ilk

Obs. same; like

Origin of ilk

Scottish dialect, dialectal from Middle English ilke from Old English ilca, same; probably from an unverified form ?-l?ca from ?-, literally , the + -lica, like: see like

kind; sort; class: only in of that (or his, her, etc.) ilk, of the same sort or class: from a misunderstanding of the phrase of that ilk as used in Scotland to mean “of the same name (as the place he owns or from which he comes)” [MacDonald of that ilk (i.e., MacDonald of MacDonald)] and often used disparagingly

Chiefly Scot. each; every

also il′ka

Origin of ilk

ME, Northern and Midlands variant, variety of ilch, ælch from Old English ælc: see each

ilk

noun

Type or kind: can't trust people of that ilk.

pron.

Scots

The same. Used following a name to indicate that the one named resides in an area bearing the same name: Duncan of that ilk.

Origin of ilk

Middle English ilkesamefrom Old English ilca ; see i- in Indo-European roots.Word History: When one uses ilk, as in the phrase men of his ilk, one is using a word with an ancient pedigree even though the sense of ilk, “kind or sort,” is actually quite recent, having been first recorded at the end of the 18th century. This sense grew out of an older use of ilk in the phrase of that ilk, meaning “of the same place, territorial designation, or name.” This phrase was used chiefly in names of landed families, Guthrie of that ilk meaning “Guthrie of Guthrie.” “Same” is the fundamental meaning of the word. The ancestors of ilk, Old English ilca and Middle English ilke, were common words, usually appearing with such words as the or that, but the word hardly survived the Middle Ages in those uses.

ilk

Used following a person’s name to show that he lives in a place of the same name, eg Johnstone of that ilk means Johnstone of Johnstone.

Noun

(plural ilks)

A type, race or category; a group of entities that have common characteristics such that they may be grouped together.

Usage notes

In modern use, ilk is used in phrases such as of his ilk, of that ilk, to mean ‘type’ or ‘sort.’ The use arose out of a misunderstanding of the earlier, Scottish use in the phrase of that ilk, where it means ‘of the same name or place.’ For this reason, some traditionalists regard the modern use as incorrect. It is, however, the only common current use and is now part of standard English.

Origin

From Middle English ilke, from Old English ilca, from Proto-Germanic*ilīkaz, a compound of *iz and *-līkaz from the noun *līką (“body”).

The sense of “type”, “kind” is from the application of the phrase ‘of that ilk’ to families: the word thus came to mean ‘family’.